Gartner

Gartner, Inc.

File:Gartner logo.svg Logo of Gartner, Inc.
Company type	Public
Industry	Research and advisory services
Founded	1979 (1979)
Founder	Gideon Gartner, David Stein
Headquarters	Stamford, Connecticut , United States
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Gene A. Hall (CEO)
Products	Research publications, conferences, consulting services
Number of employees	21,000+ (2024)
Website	www.gartner.com

Gartner, Inc. is a U.S.-based research and advisory organization focused on business and technology sectors. It offers its clientele—including major corporations, government bodies, tech companies, and investment firms—a range of products and services such as research publications, conferences, and consulting engagements.

Operations

The firm’s activities are divided into three main areas: research, conferences, and consulting. As of December 2024, Gartner employs more than 21,000 individuals globally across 90 countries, with its main office located in Stamford, Connecticut. The current CEO is Gene A. Hall.

Gartner is listed on the S&P 500 index and experiences consistent revenue and profit growth supported by increasing contract values.

1980s

Founded in 1979 by Gideon Gartner and David Stein, Gartner initially provided IT industry research and analysis tailored to businesses involved in buying and selling computer hardware. Gideon Gartner, who previously worked at IBM, utilized his insider expertise to focus on IBM products and their market dynamics.

The company pioneered the use of succinct one-page reports designed to deliver executive-level insights efficiently. During the early 1980s, Gartner analysts created the Magic Quadrant, a graphical tool that segments companies within specific markets, which soon became central to their reports and presentations.

Starting from an office leased from its first client, Dillon, Read & Co., by 1983 Gartner had grown to employ 80 research analysts and achieved $8 million in revenue. In 1985, its brokerage and investment arm separated as Gartner Securities, renamed SoundView Financial Group in 1987, which later operated under the name SoundView Technology Group.

In July 1986, the company rebranded as Gartner Group and went public. The following January it acquired Infocorp in Cupertino to strengthen its foothold in the West Coast technology sector. That year’s financials showed $25 million in sales with $1.9 million in profits.

In 1988, the U.K.-based advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi purchased Gartner Group for $90.3 million.

1990s

In 1990, founder Gideon Gartner along with other executives took the company private again through a transaction supported by Bain Capital and Dun & Bradstreet—then a Bain client. Under Bain’s ownership, Gartner concentrated on IT pricing data services, boosting profit margins from 10% to 30%. Dun & Bradstreet acquired majority ownership in 1993.

Gartner returned to public markets in October 1993 while Dun & Bradstreet retained a half stake. Over the next eight years, it acquired or invested in around 30 firms including Dataquest (a market research company) and TechRepublic (an online news platform). These acquisitions were part of a diversification effort during the dot-com era; however, integration difficulties limited combined benefits. Gartner divested TechRepublic to CNET just a year after acquiring it.

The influential hype cycle methodology depicting technology adoption stages was introduced by Gartner in 1995.

2000s–present

Gene A. Hall took over as CEO in August 2004 from Michael D. Fleisher. Hall brought prior experience from McKinsey & Company as well as leading a $2 billion division at Automatic Data Processing.

By 2008, Gartner reported revenues of $1.3 billion and commanded a 40% share of the IT research market. The acquisition of AMR Research in 2009 expanded its expertise into supply chain advisory services. Previous purchases of META Group and Burton Group had also extended Gartner’s global footprint and service portfolio.

In March 2014, Gartner enhanced its software advisory capabilities through acquiring Software Advice. The company also coined "Digital BizOps" to promote digital business operations strategies. Subsequent acquisitions included Nubera (GetApp) in July 2015—a business application discovery platform—and Capterra in September of the same year, further expanding its digital marketplace offerings.

June 2016 marked the acquisition of SCM World, a London-based supply chain community platform. In 2017, Gartner acquired Arlington-based talent management firm CEB for $2.6 billion including $700 million debt assumption, broadening its consulting services in talent management. Shortly thereafter, it purchased L2 Inc., a digital benchmarking company founded by Scott Galloway, enhancing its marketing analytics capabilities.

On May 26, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) resolved charges against Gartner concerning violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The SEC alleged that between December 2014 and August 2015, Gartner engaged in corrupt activities involving a South African firm connected to government bribery. Gartner agreed to pay $2.46 million and implement anti-corruption compliance measures; the SEC acknowledged the company's full cooperation during the investigation.

See also

• Gartner hype cycle, a visual model created by Gartner
• Magic Quadrant, a type of market analysis report produced by Gartner
• SoundView Technology Group, initially a financial services company founded by Gartner